I'm also a reddit refugee, and basically never comment there anymore. I use it as a content aggregatior, but to actually carry on a conversation? Hubski all the way.
I wouldn't call myself a Reddit refugee, as I never felt myself driven from the place by any scandal and I've actually been on all sorts of websites, some still alive and some dead, for years. That said, when I discovered Hubski and lurked for a while before registering, I knew I found something special here. There's s degree of courtesy on this website that you don't often find elsewhere on the internet. In fact, my first month or so on here was a bit of an adjustment period for me, as I had to let myself acclimate to the fact that people on here aren't being deliberately contentious like so many other places on the internet. Suffice to say, this place is great.
I totally agree with your descriptions of Hubski (see?). I do consider myself driven from Reddit to an extent, due to a combination of the contention that you talk about and also the fact that it seems to be about who can be edgier the fastest.